Awesome Thing – Charley Harper Pint Glasses

harper_glasses

Have you ever come across something that you needed desperately but didn’t know you needed desperately because you didn’t know it existed? For me, that thing was this set of bird glasses by artist Charley Harper. I’ve been a Harper fan for years, and my dream sleeve tattoo (come on, everyone has a dream sleeve tattoo… that ink work you’d get if money was no object) is actually a series of Harper-esque birds.

Harper’s nature artwork, done originally for school textbooks, is pretty much the epitome of mid-century modern art, and although the artist passed away in 2007, there is a great deal of renewed interest due to the fact that designer Todd Oldham has been working with the estate to create some great books and lines of houseware products.

Besides the typical prints and artwork, Harper’s work now graces mugs, Christmas ornaments, phone cases, tea towels and dishes. Many of the items were created in conjunction with New York housewares shop Fishes Eddy, but the full collection can be found on the Charley Harper web site.

I actually found this set at Cookery, the newly-opened cookware shop at 303 Roncesvalles Avenue. Reasonably-priced at $36 (glasses are also sold individually for slightly more), the glasses are a full 20-oz pint, making them perfect for stylish beer drinkers.